Area religious schools far from forgotten

Saddened parishioners say of their recently closed churches: Gone but not forgotten. And that's how it is with Hazleton's former religious schools, if the comments of some of my readers are anything to go by.

Mary Jo Cheslock Barrett not only spent most of her life living in the vicinity of Our Lady of Grace Church on Vine Street, she has only happy memories of the parochial school in its glory days from the '50s and '60s.

She paints an impressionistic portrait of her education which I'll interpret. "I remember beanies, (skull caps which the girls wore on their heads; boys wore blue knit ties); Pagan Babies (orphaned children living along the equator we kids supported with our pennies. We became surrogate parents at age seven! Talk about inculcating a social conscience at a tender age.)

"Priests handing out report cards, (I recall their jovial faces while reading out grades meriting recognition: "Larry DeMatt, a 98 in Religion. Good. Mary Paula Petruce, a 96 in Penmanship. Splendid. Rose Lee Lesante, 100%, Math. Good for you! Jerry Palermo, 97 in History. Wonderful." Then came mine. Handing me the card, the priest muttered condolences like he was at a backslider's wake.

Parochial schools stressed the basics. Elaine Schmidt, a former Biology teacher, said she made sure she learned her decimals. "If you didn't have the decimal in the right place, Most Precious Blood's Sr. Carmela would place a decimal on your head with the chalk," Elaine's sister Delores recalls.

Religious education not only offered academics, but great sporting opportunities, too, says Joe Yatko who attended St. Joseph's School on Laurel Street. "Some went on to distinguish themselves in other leagues or in collegiate basketball."

Gina Donahue Connors has this to share. "I recall the beautiful Sister Angelica, my first-grade teacher. When I say beautiful I mean it literally. She had blue eyes and clear white skin; it was like looking at an angel. She was so kind and sweet us. First-graders loved her. Besides my mother, she is the one woman I wanted to be like."

According to Connors, "God bless the wonderful old-time priests, who let eight Irish-Italian kids (us Donahues) from Alter St. go to Mother of Grace in exchange for my mother and aunt Louise ironing their vestments.

"The candy counter in the basement of the school. The mysterious convent. And the old cheerleading chant: 'We are the Gracemen, the mighty, mighty Gracemen.' I could go on and on, but I get too sad."

Ed Parsons recalls this tale. "In 9th grade all of the guys were car crazy, especially because we were not old enough to legally drive. One classmate used to 'borrow' his father's '55 Caddy after his father went to work. He'd park it along the school (Our Lady of Grace).

"We all had to attend daily Mass. One morning, the priest turns to the congregation chanting, 'Dominus Vobiscum.' Before we could answer, my buddy's right outside, braking while tromping the gas, burning tires like there's no tomorrow. Smoke came in all the windows making everyone cough."

Former HHS basketball coach Tom Donahue offers his mixed memories, having been spanked a time or two by nuns. "On the bright side, it was some of the best education around, and had great basketball."

"I was coached by the legendary Neil 'Slim' Cusat, the toughest, in-your-face coach I ever played for. Yet I loved him then and now. I always made a point later in life to walk in the alley behind his house on Alter Street hoping to see him working in his garage, so we could talk basketball. He was bigger than life.

Donahue adds, "We had the best gyms. Our Lady of Grace - the Staples Center of Hazleton. But nothing beat the Madison Square Garden of Hazleton, St. Joe's gym. Two little Catholic schools had two of the best gyms in eastern Pennsylvania.

"Holidays were great. We dressed up for Halloween and marched around school. Of course my outfit would have some abnormality, a tear, a smudge; it wouldn't stay on, people laughing at it, etc. Yet, it was fun. I still remember the big blue box of chocolate candy every kid got just before Christmas Eve."

Catholics didn't have a corner on religious education. Debbie Brenner Walko attended Agudas Israel Synagogue in the '60s and '70s. "My class consisted of Beth Levy, Barbie Wagner, Stevie and Jordan Klemow, and Jody Unger. It was very tough with Cantor Cohn, Rabbi Solomon and others. Ida Miller and Bertha Vogel were great Sunday School teachers that we had forever.

"We had to go to Hebrew school three times a week and go to junior congregation on Saturdays. I hated having to do public school homework and then Hebrew school work ... a very difficult language for me to learn. Right now my children are going to the same place to learn."

Annette Cury-Guttman adds this. "It was November 1963 when I attended Grebey Junior High and Hebrew school at the Agudas Israel Synagogue. Grebey had a dance called the 'Turkey Trot' and raffled off tickets for a free turkey.

"I looked down at my ticket and found that I had won. It was a week later when I received my prize in a crate after school. I had to get to Hebrew school and couldn't go home, or I'd be late. So the turkey and I went to Hebrew school. The problem was it wasn't kosher. There it sat on the seat in the back of the classroom!

"The frozen turkey was 20 lbs. Talk about heavy. Since we couldn't eat it, we gave it to our neighbor."

Catholics, too, observed dietary laws in the days before reforms ended the restrictions. I attended the Jewish Community Center's Camp Davidowitz. Once I'd left my lunch at home on a Friday. At noon, a kindly boy saw I had no food, so he shared a beef sandwich from his brown bag which I devoured.

Later when I realized I'd broken the meatless-Friday canon, I agonized over going to confession, hoping my confessor would be anyone but "40-Our-Fathers-and 40-Hail Marys" Monsignor Mussari. A penance like that could ruin an entire weekend!

It's clear all religious schools stressed spirituality, the reality of a loving God, and the need to die to self, no bad thing for kids to hear.

Mary Jo Barrett says she enjoyed a few good laughs reflecting on her religious schooling, so the final word goes to her. "I made some wonderful lifetime friends there. It was a good time, and I am so thankful to have had a Catholic education. "

As I say, the religious schools may be gone, but never forgotten. Not by a long shot.

Former Hazleton resident Michael Apichella holds a Ph.D in English and is a writer living in Europe. You may contact him at apichella speaker@yahoo.com.

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